JL 500/5 amp

hrdhtdvr · January 2006

Since Alpine stopped production on the MRVF450, I am looking at installing a JL 500/5 5 channel amp. Does anyone have any thoughts on JL or this kind of amp?

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_amps.php?amp_id=256

MacLeod · January 2006

Excellent amp. Cant go wrong with it. Itll make a little over 600 watts RMS cleanly and is built very well. The only thing I dont like about it is it is a fully regulated amp which I dont care for.

If youre looking for a 500 watt amp check out the Polk 500.1 It makes just as much power, is built just as good, is not regulated and is a little cheaper.

audiobliss · January 2006

Mark down another vote for the PolkMOMO. Though, the JL is nice, too.

1996blackmax · January 2006

He wants a 5 channel amp right, or am I missing something?

I would recommend the Arc Audio 5150-XXK. Solid amp that will make more than its rated power very cleanly.

http://www.arcaudio.com/arc-05/amplifiers/xxk_5150.htm

hrdhtdvr · January 2006

MacLeod wrote:

The only thing I dont like about it is it is a fully regulated amp which I dont care for.

Thanks for the imput. I just have a question. What do you mean by fully regulated?

1996blackmax · January 2006

Basically the amp will make its rated power from around 12v's to 14.4v's. Very basic explanation. Unregulated power supplies can take advantage of higher output voltages by making more power (an example would be when your car is turned on). The regulated supplies will not make more.

1996blackmax · January 2006

The Arc amps are fully regulated which means they will make full power at 12v's. They are very nice amps and have received very good reviews.

neomagus00 · January 2006

the regulated supply not only puts out the same power from 11 to 14.5 volts, but also from 1.5 to 4 nominal ohms... what advantage this could possibly have, i don't know, but so it goes...

fyi, JL says it's to prevent distortion caused by momentary dips in supply voltage, but i see that logic as flawed for two reasons; one, because any decent amp will have enough supply capacitance to deal with those momentary dips, and two, because they're limiting themselves to the worst-case scenario, and 'detuning' the amp for any condition that's better than worst-case...

1996blackmax · January 2006

Neo you are speaking about the JL amp right, and not about regulated amps in general right? Just want to be clear

.

MacLeod · January 2006

Oops, I took that as the 500/1. My bad.

In that case, I dont particularly like that one as a 5 channel amp. I dont like the rear channels being much lower power and the sub channel isnt exactly slammin either.

Kicker, Crossfire and Orion all make much better 5 channels.

The drawback to regulated amps is that they tend to lack in performance whenever music peaks. Take a snare drum slap, generally these are much more powerful than the rest of the music and regulated amps can play these the same volume as the rest of the music instead of at a higher level like they should be.

1996blackmax · January 2006

If a system is properly tuned (gains properly set), and has good components, this should not be an issue. Quality amps should have enough headroom to tackle this issue. In Arc Audio's case, I do not think Robert Zeff's company would design amplifiers that were substandard when it came to dynamic peaks in music. It is generally understood that music is dynamic, and I would hope that a decently made regulated amp could handle these issues.

exalted512 · January 2006

thats the only thing I would ever put in my car that has the JL name stamped on it. I like the idea of having a 5 channel amp that puts out more power in the front and uses the rear channel as rear fill.
-Cody

audiobliss · January 2006

Sucks for biamping, though...

neomagus00 · January 2006

no, my comments were about regulated amps in general...

and as for the snare drum, the peak is a function of the input signal, not the regulation of the power supply... nearly any amp should have enough reserve power to tackle a high-frequecy spike like this...

Toxis · January 2006

MacLeod wrote:

Kicker, Crossfire and Orion all make much better 5 channels.

oh my dear god no they do not! Over the JL 500/5? Please... Arc is better but Kicker the sellout of quality? Orion the company who went bankrupt and was bought out by DEI? UGH! Crossfire... well we all know my opinion on their stuff.

HiPerf360 · January 2006

I have a full JL system in my truck and it sounds amazing, the amps are very well built and have been through a ton of abuse. I think i put them in the truck in late 2001 or early 02 and they are still kicking.

The JL amps are not as "musical" as the precision power amps i had in there before but when the third one blew i was fed up with them. (I am talking about the old American made PP amps)

MacLeod · January 2006

HiPerf360 wrote:

The JL amps are not as "musical" as the precision power amps i had in there before but when the third one blew i was fed up with them. (I am talking about the old American made PP amps)

Musical?? How can one amp be more "musical" than another?

MacLeod · January 2006

Toxis wrote:

oh my dear god no they do not! Over the JL 500/5? Please... Arc is better but Kicker the sellout of quality? Orion the company who went bankrupt and was bought out by DEI? UGH! Crossfire... well we all know my opinion on their stuff.

Are there any products you DO like?

hrdhtdvr · January 2006

I finally have the amp installed. I went with the JL 500/5 and so far I am blown away! Now I may not be the biggest audiophile, but I am still very happy. I have a "Boom Truck" on the inside, but as soon as you step outside, you don't hear the boom. Inside it sounds like a freaking rock concert!

1996blackmax · January 2006

Glad to hear you like it

. Nothing like getting new gear that you are happy with

.

Toxis · January 2006

MacLeod wrote:

Are there any products you DO like?

Alpine and Eclipse decks.
JL, Polk, Alpine, Rockford Power series, Arc, Audison, Diamond Audio, TRU, US Amps, Xtant, Zapco... amps.
Focal, Diamond audio, Polk audio, JL, Alpine (F1), MB Quart Q series, Image Dynamics, Dynaudio, Morel, Vifa, Seas... components/drivers.
JL, Polk, MTX (7500 series only), Alpine, MB Quart, Rockford Power series, Image Dynamics, Diamond Audio, Arc Audio, Focal, Dynaudio... subs.

That's a decent list off the top of my head.

hrdhtdvr · January 2006

Now I have a question concerning the crossovers.

I noticed that on my HU (Alpine CDA 9855) they left all the crossovers at 0 and flat. Do I need to set these or will the amp's crossovers do the job? I asked and they said that they set the crossovers (I am guessing at the amp) and if I didn't like the way it sounded, I could come back and they would re set them with me.

MacLeod · January 2006

The crossovers on the JL amp are top notch and probably better than the ones on the head unit. Leave the head units at flat (0 db) and use the ones on the amp.

hrdhtdvr · January 2006

Thanks Mac, that is what I thought.

I just wish I had the chrome option on the amp. Because you know that chrome has got to make it sound better. After all, since chrome parts make your car go faster It has to work for audio components as well.

neomagus00 · January 2006

no, it's 'nos' and 'vtec' stickers that do that!

1996blackmax · January 2006

MacLeod wrote:

The crossovers on the JL amp are top notch and probably better than the ones on the head unit.

Why do you say this? Is it for quality or adjustability?

audiobliss · January 2006

neomagus00 wrote:

no, it's 'nos' and 'vtec' stickers that do that!

Man! I gotta get me some o' dem stickas!!

MacLeod · January 2006

1996blackmax wrote:

Why do you say this? Is it for quality or adjustability?

The crossovers on the JL amp offer more adjustibility than a typical head unit.

1996blackmax · January 2006

That's what I was thinking

.

HiPerf360 · January 2006

MacLeod wrote:

Musical?? How can one amp be more "musical" than another?

WTF? How is one amp more musical than another?

I am talking about the sound of the amp, i think the old PP sounded better than the JL.

Go tho the 2ch forum and ask that same stupid question.

PoweredByDodge · January 2006

Regulated power supply...

Lends the same supply voltage to the output stage from a range of (for example) 11 volts through 16 volts)

The benefit is not that of "preventing losses in power and clips due to momentary dips in power supply voltage". Horse ****. Provided onboard capacitance is within a reasonable spec, these momentary dips don't become an issue until you start getting into huge amps. At which time, a beefed up electrical system and properly used external caps are necessary.

The real benefit is that they can more tightly control their piece of **** amplifier. There are less variables. They know, no matter what, that the supply voltage to the output stage is "X". No matter what. Heaven forbid a fly get into JL's proverbial anal ointment.

Regulated Output Stage

Regardless of the load put to the output terminals, the same power will be output... at 8 ohm, 4 ohms, 2 ohms, 1 ohm or half an ohm, it's all the same... within a limit of course, usually something like "between 1 and 6 ohms" or something of that nature.

Again, all this does is remove a variable. Yes it will, I suppose, protect you in the event that you have a driver that is a little below specified impedance, or whatever... but give me a break... its stupid... it's a waste of time, money, and parts to build this **** into amplifiers. All it does is clutter up the board, add more parts that generate heat, and add more parts to break -- increasing the customer end cost.

Fully Regulated amps

use both types of regulation above. and are thus stupid as hell.

Musical amps...

One amp is not more musical than another. The only exception would be an amplifier with a limited bandwidth - for example, an amp that had a frequency response of 50 hertz to 15 k Hz, while another had a response of 20 to 20k ... and another had a response of 5 Hz to 30k Hz... the last would be the most "musical" ... but, considering 99.99999% of audio amplifiers have a range of 20 to 20k ... no one amp is more musical than another, and any home audio fuckstick who would like to say that there is such a thing can eat **** and die.

A properly designed amplifier will have a washboard flat transient response. Want to argue that, fine, go down the road to "I'm too **** retarded to do anything but make up science and pick my asscrack with toothpicks" Bar and Grille, and ask them about it.

Warm amps versus "flat" amps

Tube amps have what is known as a "warm" or "wet" sound. We can use those terms to describe other amps, but when someone says "tube amps sound better, they're wetter and warmer" -- they're not being stupid... they are using a slang term for the fact that tube amps, while being virtually dead on balls accurate, have some minor tonal coloration... basically... they add a distinct, predictable, and common distortion (distorion being ANY sound not found on the original recording) to the reproduced sound. So you could say tube amps are more "musical"...

Solid state amps are flat... which mathematically is awesome, and in theory, is perfect for listening as well... class AB hybrid is going to sound different from any other AB hybrid -- this assumes all bass boosts are off, deck is set at 0, everything is zeroed out... gain is set at a point below where clipping occurs. volume may be different ... sound won't be though.

if it is then you have a magical amp from the planet "i'm a ****".

Closing

in closing, ARC Audio ROCKS! JL is a piece of **** company run by fucksticks and losers.

JL 500/5 amp

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